Bike Gremlin

I ride a triple 50-39-30

Now have an 11-28 cassette, and I never use the 50-11 combination - too fast. I don't race so no need speeding up on downhills.
With a 12-28 cassette, and a 50 big ring, is it possible to ride on flats from the big ring, without cross chaining? All the gears will be moved one step to the outside, practically - compared to 11-28 (at least the "faster" half of the cassette)? Now I mostly ride flats from the middle ring 39 x 12 to 15 on the back.

Just wandering what cassette to go for next, when this one is up for a change (along with the worn chain).

Leinster

What replaces the 11 in the 12-28? A 16? 17?

I ride a compact with a 12-27. On the flat I spend a lot of time in the 15, 16 and 17. Occasionally the 19. If I get past that, I usually drop to the 34 ring. With a 39 middle, you can make that change sooner depending on the situation.

A 50x17 is pretty much exactly the same gear as a 39-13.

Team Sarcasm

What is your definition of cross chaining?

Pibber

Maybe I'm wrong, but the switch to the 12 won't move your cassette anywhere, you just get a different count. And, yeah, you'll cross chain, depending on the trim you have available. But, if you're already running on the middle ring, just get a compact double with a 13-32 or something.

chasm54

If you don't need the 11 sprocket (and I agree, you don't) then a 12-28 will be an improvement because you'll get closer ratios in the more frequently-used part of the cassette.

As for riding in the big ring, you say your usual ratios are 39/12 to 39/15. That's broadly equivalent to 50/15 rising to 50/20. So you could be riding in the big ring now, it has nothing to do with changing your cassette. Inevitably, though, you'll be cross-chaining slightly more.

TheSame

I like 12-28. Fills in the gaps more. I rarely miss the 11t... I'm running 11speed 12-28t. it gives me back the 16T. Not sure what you get back on a 10 speed cassette. The only time I really notice that I'm missing the 11T is on descents. no real cross chain issues... My drive train isn't completely silent in 34t front and 12t rear. (or 50t front and 28t rear) But... I never spent enough time trying to dial that in. I don't really spend much time cross chaining my gears. If it's noisy... it just reminds me to shift the front up or down. to get myself in the right gear range.

Bike Gremlin

11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-28

vs

12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28


So it comes down to big ring having less cross chaining for 17 and 19, but the middle ring having to cross chain a bit more for 13 (and 12 becoming out of question). I ride a triple up front.

merlinextraligh

This will show you everything you need to know visually:

https://www.gear-calculator.com/#

And the 12-28 will change the position of the cogs. The 12 will now be the smallest cog, rather, than one over from the smallest cog, increasing the degree of cross chaining in this ratio that the OP uses a lot. Not a big deal IMHO, but a consideration.

TrojanHorse

That's weird, I'd have expected a 16 cog instead of smaller gaps from 21-28. So for YOU this will only help you on the low end. It won't make a lick of difference until you get to the 21 tooth cog and you're looking for an easier gear.

I still use my 50/11 from time to time but really... there's not much point. I agree with your general premise.

MKahrl

What is the highest gear you need? Eddy Merckx's raced with a high gear of 52x13 or 105.5 gear inches. In no universe would either myself or anyone I've ever known would need a high gear greater than what Eddy Merckx used.

So a 50x12 will give you 110 gear inches; maybe higher than you need. 48x12 will come closer at 105 gear inches. Bottom line, 12 as your smallest cog is a step in the right direction.

The argument "What did Eddy need?" does not apply to lower gears. Many of us need lower (or much lower) gears than what Eddy used.

Darth Steele

If you had a double and ride a lot of hill I would recommend going with the 12-28, you get 3 cogs higher than 19 ( 23-25-28 )


As for "cross chain" I don't worry about it. I have 53-39 upfront, and usually I ride the small ring and use all of my 12-25 in the back. I only use my big crank for "big boy rides". It is fun to be on the small crank and keeping up, while others in a pack are pushing their big crank. I believe that this kind of training gives me an advantage long term.


I would think that the middle crank (39) up front and 28 in the back should get you over most hill unless you are climbing Everest..but hey

Dunbar

I prefer SRAM's 12-28 cassette. Yes, it's compatible with Shimano groups.

12,13,14,15,16,17,19,22,25,28

superslomo

That answers the question, doesn't it?

Get the 12-28... in the middle ring, you can use all of 'em, and only use the big ring when you REALLY are going downhill, and use the little ring to go uphill steeply. I spend about 90% or more of my time in that middle 39, which covers all the cogs at the back... I only need big or little rings in the more extreme circumstances.

fstshrk

What about the 12-30?

That is my favorite cassette for 10 speed.

fried bake

you, sir, are awesome! i've been looking for a 12-28 with a 16 and never considered SRAM. thanks!

fstshrk

I went and compared the three cassettes:

SRAM 12-28: 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-22-25-28
SHIM 12-30: 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30
SRAM 12-32: 12-13-14-15-17-19-22-25-28-32

I still think the 12-30 is a great ratio range. You do lose the 16 but you have the 15 and 17, and you gain the 30 on the low range.

colnago62

To the Eddy comparison; He probably rode a 170 mm crank with a 24 lb. Bike with standard wheels and no aero equipment. Riders now are riding longer cranks, lighter bikes with way more aero equipment. Some of the reasons why we have seen an increase in gear inches in the last 10 years or so. I regularly spin out my 50 X 11 on descents using my 808's.

TheSame

I tried a SRAM 12-28 cassette on my bike when I was running 105 5600. It never shifted right and it was noisy. Spent hours trying to adjust it. Swapped back to my 11-28 6700 ultegra cassette and everything was fine again. I've heard they're 100% compatible... but it didn't work for me.

I've also tried to do a hybrid cassette to get a shimano 12-28 with a 16T. took the lower section of my 12-25 (105 5600) and the upper part of my 11-28 (ultegra 6700) to make a 12-28 (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 28). That shifted almost perfectly.

Bike Gremlin

Probably will.Still, from the middle ring I stay out of smallest sprocket in the back, and out of 2 largest ones at the back. To avoid cross chaining. Heard it shortens the life of chains and sprockets.

Bike Gremlin

Yes, less good for the 39 middle, but more useful on the big one. I'd rather have a cassette that started with a 13 tooth ring, ended with a 30 tooth ring and drop triple for a standard double. But that's not available from what I see.

superslomo

Using the middle ring for all the gears is totally okay, there's no "cross chaining" as far as that goes, it's no more cross chained than using any reasonable combo on a double... maybe other folks have had different experiences, but I've always used the big two-thirds of the cassette with the little ring, the whole cassette with the middle, and the upper 7 gears or so with the big ring. A little light chain rattle is the worst that happens, avoidable in the middle ring with the light trim adjustments.

These conversations always skip a fundamental thing: if you want tighter spacing, you can have it. If you want lower gearing, you can probably get it. If you want a tiny, itsy-bitsy bit more speed on top, you can have it too... the only thing to ask is: what do I have, and what do I WANT TO HAVE. You want more bottom end, and less on top. Done like disco, man. Get the new cassette, if you don't like it, you can swap it.

I have a 12-25 that I love around flatter places, the tighter gear choices (on a 9 speed, mind you) are better for my legs. I'm currently on a bit of a vacation in the mountains, and I put a 12-27 on that I got cheaply for just a little bit more ease going uphill. I'm probably going to pick up one of the Harris Cyclery "Century Special" cogsets, so that I can run a 30 on the big end, just for yet a little more pop. My rear derailleur will pick up enough teeth to get a 34 or 36 on the back, but those cassettes are just so widely spaced that they aren't much fun to use.

bikebreak

SRAM's 12-28 cassette has a 16t cog which is nice. I got a force level SRAM and it was a tiny bit more noisy and less smooth than my shim 105 12-27 cassette.

When I did a ride with more elevation I got an ultegra 12-30 which is super with 53/39 cranks, but lacks the 16t.

If I had a triple I would get a 12-25 for tighter shift spacing in the back, unless it was very hilly, then 12-27

Barrettscv 

I run a 50, 39 & 26 triple and use a 12-27 most of the time. I'm able to use all cogs on all 3 chainrings, but avoid the big-big and small-small combinations.

I'm a spinner and can use the middle chainring up to 25 mph. Having the 12-13-14-15-16-17-19 set of cogs makes for a narrow cadence range of 88-100 rpm from 15 to 25mph.

I have a 11-23 for faster rides on flat routes and a 12-30 for hilly century rides but always come back to the 12-27. It does it all.

PhotoJoe 

I've got a Sram 1070 12-28 on my 105 5700 and it's plenty quiet. Not saying yours wasn't, simply YMMV. I'm a weak climber and live around some great mountains, so I'm probably going to go to the Ultegra 12-30 until I get stronger.

TheSame

I had tried the SRAM PG-1070 12-28. The only other thing I can think of that caused shifting / noise problems with the SRAM PG-1070 on my 105 5600 set was chain stretch. when I tried swapping to the SRAM cassette, I had 2000 miles on the Chain (and 2000 miles between my 2 Shimano cassettes). The chain / cassettes could be worn in together... though 2k miles doesn't seem like a huge amount to me to wear out those components.

Either way... I'm much happier on my new build. Full DA 9000 with 12-28. Everything shifts MUCH better. 11 speed fixes the gaps even more when running a 12-28t cassette. I spend a lot of climbing.. so I need the tighter ratios in the 21-28 range on the 11 speed cassette.